New York City's first lifestyle center earns shopper approval.

Only open since April of 2006, The Shops at Atlas Park--New York City's first ever lifestyle retail center--at the intersection of Cooper Avenue and 80th Street in Glendale, has proven not only to be a thriving retail, commercial, dining, and entertainment destination, but one that is fast transforming the way residents work, shop, and play in Queens.

"This was once a foreign concept in our area," said Damon Hemmerdinger, the project's development director. "Until we opened, Queens residents would have to go as far as Manhattan and Long Island to quench their retail thirst."

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And the traffic is coming. To Hemmerdinger, this is no surprise: "Queens is an underappreciated and misunderstood community," he says, pointing out that Queens has the same number of families earning in excess of $100,000 as many of Connecticut's and New York's most affluent towns--including all of Fairfield, Westchester and Bergen Counties.

"This strong demand is matched by a weak competitive supply of high-end retail. This center is flourishing in this under-served, yet vibrant market."

The Shops at Atlas Park has an impressive roster of tenants that includes Borders, Regal Cinemas, Marmi, Aerosoles, Stein Mart, White House|Black Market, Gymboree, Jos. A. Bank, The Bombay Company, Coldwater Creek, Chico's, J. Jill, Laila Rowe, Apricot Lane, Blue Tulip, Claire's, Starbuck's and New York Sports Club.

In addition to the brand name retailers, The Shops at Atlas Park has also attracted many local merchants who have opened stores. Local retailers include fashion boutique, Stella Gialla, Crazy for Animals, an upscale "green" pet accessories boutique, florist, Dahlia and The Fair Home Design, a new incarnation of a Queens institution founded in 1938, known for cookware and supplies.

The Shops at Atlas Park is also home to a number of flourishing local restaurants and fine food stores such as Manor Oktoberfest, a casual German eatery run by a Queens native serving up bratwurst, sauerbraten and a variety of German beers; Pasticcio, a Zagat raved Italian restaurant in New York City that expanded its operation to Queens; Shiro of Japan, that expanded from Long Island to Queens; and Orange, a trendy bar/ restaurant.

Amish Fine Foods has opened with 14,000 s/f of fresh offerings, Rosetta Wines is a store modelled on Union Square Wines and a green market comes to The Shops on Saturdays in the summer and rail.

Major national chains like Johnny Rockets, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's and Cold Stone Creamery are also part of the dining mix.

"Many of these stores and restaurants are new to Queens and several have even chosen The Shops at Atlas Park for their first foray into the New York metropolitan market at large," said Hemmerdinger. "This is intended to be the true town center for central Queens, so we have a variety of tastes and price points in both clothes and food," said Hemmerdinger. Hemmerdinger notes the range within the retail mix is similar to how he conceived the architecture, which has different color bricks from the 1890s along side sleek windows. In short, just as one would expect to find in an authentic village, the stores and restaurants are varied, and appeal to a variety of different cravings and price points.

The Offices at Market Plaza, located within The Shops at Atlas Park, have recently signed their first tenants. So far, five tenants are located on the Third Floor, and together with a 2,000 s/f community room, occupy over 8,500 s/f. The Offices at Market Plaza are located in the original brick Atlas Terminal buildings, and have Amish Market and Dahlia Florists as retail tenants on the ground floor. The Offices at Market Plaza contain a total of 40,000 s/f of space.

The Shops at Atlas Park is also a venue for events and festivities: Christmas celebrations included a concert by Aaron Neville, there has been a World's Fair, three Oktoberfest celebrations and a visit by Mets third baseman David Wright.